Norman b



lirie tang NORMAN B. SEBRING, OF MATAMORA, OHIO.

Letters Patent No. 90,199, elated May 18, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN 'BEE-HIVES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and makingl part of the same.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, NORMAN B. Sonnino, of Matarnora, in the county of Fulton, and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Bee- Hives; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the saine, which will enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains, to make and use the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, making a part of' this specification, like lettersalways referring to similar parts.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and inode of operation.

Figure 1 represents a perspective View of one of` my improved bee-hives, set up and ready for use;

Figure Zrepresents a vertical section, cutting the line X Y in iig. l;

Figure 3 represents a transverse section, cutting the line X Y in iig. 1;

Figure 4 represents a perspective View of theV honeybox C, detached from its place in the cap A and body -B of the hive, and havingglass walls, front and rear,

G. and G respectively, and auvopening, 0, in the oor to let the bees pass npthrough into the box;

Figure 5 represents, in perspective, the said box C, and the inode of attaching it to the body ot' the hive, the cap having been removed so as to show the box; and

Figures (i, 7, and 8, represent separators, oi' tin or sheet-iron, to be hereafter more particularly described.

The body of the hive, after the cap A has been removed, is capable of being separated into two sections by means of the tin separator T being passed downward through the dividing line W.

The outside shell of the body B of the hive is constructed of boards, nailed together in the form of a square box, a little higher than its width or thickness, and on the opposite sides are fastened the horizontal cleats m and u, to facilitate handling the hive.

The front end of the bottom-board D is made to rise and fall, turning on the pin or screw fr, thus forniing, when do\vn,an inclined plane, as shown in fig. 3, when the bees are at work.

' The front end 'of the bottoni-board D, being down, a passage is thereby formed for the bees into .and out ofthe hive, between it and the lower end oi' the`front board of the hive.

In this passage is located a self-supporting railing, y, with slats, fj', etc., for the bees to alight on.

'Ihis railing is prevented i'roin turning lby one end being made three-square, and ttting into a corresponding strap, It, and at the other end supported by a `slip-tenon sliding into a loop, h', for this purpose.

The bottom-board D and railing g are supported by a base made of boards, a, b; and c, nailed together on a line with the three sides of the hive which rest upon theln.v

Inside of the body B of' the hive are located eight comb-supporting frames, each consisting of four pieces, to wit, the two stiles, d and d', and the two railings, l() and 4, all being nailed together, a part of the railing 4 projecting over the upper end oi' the Stiles, and resting on the cleats la and k', thus giving a support to the comb-frames.

Below these cleats are two others of triangular shape, l and 1', to keep the frames central in the hive, andgive passage-room for the bees to and from the top of the hive, between the frame-s and sides of the hive.

The Stiles are a little narrower than the railings, so as to allow the bees also to pass between them, the railings closing up the whole surface of the top ofthe hive, and would prevent access to the box C, were it not for the passage o which is cut out of one edge of each ofthe railings 1, 2, 3, 4, 85o.

These railings, in fig. 2, show the transverse sections of the parts designated by corresponding :figures in iig. 3.

I design having eight,.o1\ any other suitable nurnber of these comb-supporting frames in each hive, half in each section of the hive.

Whenever it is desirable to prevent the bees entering the honey-box O, I simply tnrn the box over, thus closing the passage into it.

The frames for supporting the honey-comb are kept at equal intervals at the lower ends, by means of the several intervening staysj, fig. 2.

The boards oi'covers, H and H', are to be used only when dividing the hive into sections, this division being adopted to effect, so to speak, a sort ot' artificial swarming ot' the bees.

When the hive has been divided by reason of the removal of one of its sections, I place another similar empty section by the side of each, in orde'r to give the bees suiiicient room in both new hives.

The opening o in the tloor of the box C, fig. l, extends outward through the side of the box, and is covered by an isinglass door, I, "swinging ou pivots or loops at the top, so as to be easily swung outward to lot the bees pass out, but to prevent their passing back through it into the boX.

o', in iig. 5, is a small movable block of wood to prevent, when desirable, the egress at the door I, while the bees are at work in the box O.

c, e', c", anil c', are stationary guides to prevent lateral displacement of the sections oi' the hive, as respects each other.

e, e", and e, are three buttons, placed 011 each side of the hive, except the front, an d are to prevent lateral displacement of the body of the hive and base a., b, and c, and turn on their respective pivots in the base.

t', i, and fif, are four hooks, with their staples, to l fasten the two sections together, and both to the base as represented. l i

P and p represent a door, and button to lasten it shut.l

Behind this door, P, is a glass window, through to keep out or let in the air, at the pleasure of the apiarist.

0n the opposite sideA of the hive, near the top, and in the other section, is another ventilator, door Q, with a wire screen precisely the saine as the one just described, in front of the hive, the object of these openings through the hive. being to letein air and keep out Weather and storm. I

T are simply two similar flanged pieces of tin, per- Vforated in the centre with many small holes, so as to admit the air when used to cut the two sections of the hive apart, as hereafter described.l e, R is a tin, with tlanged ends, with rings attached to the ilanges to hook on to the pins U, in front of thehive, and U' in the rear of the hive, fig. 1, as will be hereafter described. A

Having thus described .the construction of my'improved bee-hive, the mode of operating with it is as follows: 'n

Tirst ll two (right and left) sections of my hive with their respective comb-frames, as previously described; then hook the two sections together with the hooks t" and then place the whole upon the base a, b, and c, as shown in iig. 1, and hook it there by f the hooks tand l Then (omit-ting the boards' H and H) 1 place the honey-box C, bottom upwards, upon the upper railings of comb-frames, thus preventing access by the bees to the interior of the. box; thenplace ,the cap A overall, as shown in iig. 1; then place the selfsupporting railing g, with its slats ff, 85o., in position.

The bees are next put into the'hive by laying them y down by the entrance, at the front end of the bottomboard D, whence they can readily ascend the slats f l f, &c.;.thence u`p the stiles of the comb-frames, and

thus reach their destination at the top of the hive by the shortest possible route, without having to traverse the bottom-board and rear of lthe hive.

Thus arranged, the hive remains until the bees have nearly completed their work in the body of the hive, or until `it becomes necessary to divide the swarm, which is done by separating the hive, with its bees, into its two original sections, in the following manner, to wit:

I first remove the railing g, with its slats, and then raise the front end of the bottom-board D until it strikes the lower end of the front side of the hive, placing a pin or nail into the hole i to keep the board up, thus shutting on" all escape of the bees out of the hive. Y

Then remove the cap A, and slide the tin cutter t, tig. 7, under the box U and the small movable block o', thus preventing escape of the bees in that direction when the box is removed, which is then done. Then, placing the boards H and H across the tin t, which is also now drawn ont and laid away. Then unhook the two hooks t" and y12', slightly separating the two sections of the hive, and then slide both tin cutters, T, (there being two of thern,) down lengthwise between the twov sections, the flanges at the upper ends turnswinging overthe top of their respective sections, thus scparating the body of the hive into its twoforiginal constituent sections. l

The upper ends of these perforated tin cutters T are kept pressed against' their respectivesections hy the smallpins L and L', in the upper end of lthe sections, entering into notches cutin the danges forthat purpose;

. The lower end of one of these tin cutters, that is, the right-hand one, is kept pressed against its section by means of the wire grapple lw, l"1'g..'), passing `through the loop or staple w, iig. 1 and hooked around the cutter at one end, and at the other end around the corner of the section, there being another similar grapple, w, for the same purpose on the opposite side Y of the same section.

The lower end of the other perforated cutter T is kept close against 'its section by the two pins c" and c, fig. 3, in the middle of the bottom-board D.

I next turn down the button e4, at the right hand of the hive, unhook the hook t', and then slide the tin tray R, fig. 8, under this section, ,with its anges turned p upward, and its rings, Uzand U3, hooked or -looped on the pins U and U respectively.

This keeps the tray lt up against the bottom of the section, which is no'w to be removed from'the base and #placed upon another base, and beside'another and empty section to form another hive as before, with half the number of beesto lill it. Then, removing the perforated tin T and tray R, we have another hive H I next remove the small isinglass door ,1, g. 4, to.

prevent the bees waxing it down, and place the movable block o over the' door-way, and then replace the cap A over the top of the hive, drop the bottom-board D, replace the railing g and slats ff, 85e when both hives are open for the bees to commence their work.

Now, when I wish to remove the surplus honey from the hive, I first remove the railing g, raise the bottomboard D, as before, to prevent escape of the bees, remove` cap A, slide the tin t under the opening 0in the floor, of the box C, to prevent 'any .more bees crawling up into the box; then remove the, movable block o and replace the isinglass door I upon its staplehinges over thedoor-way, placing the cap A over the top of the hive, with the right-hand side slightly elevatedto allow the bees to go ont of the box under the cap, raising the door as they go out, and its ownl weight dropping it, prevents their returning into the box. Then lower the bottom-board D and replace the railing g, and retire until the box C is emptied of its bees, when it may be removedaml its place supplied ,with another.

Having thus described the construction and operation of my improved bee-hive,

What I 'claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The yself-supporting railing y, with its several inclined slats f f, dac., in combination with the combsupporting frames, in the manner set forth and described.y

2. The two periiirated tin cutters T T, tray R, grapples 'w and fw?, for the use and purposes herein de- 

